Insting Blogs: Virtual Focus Group

15+ Excellent High Speed Photographs

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20 Beautiful Long Exposure Photographs

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35 Amazing Logo Designs

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Create a Vintage Photograph in Photoshop

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HP C6380 vs. Kodak ESP 7 Closing Comments (Part 6)

I just returned from sending the Kodak ESP 7 (the one on the right in the photo) back to the folks at the HP Virtual Focus Group. When all was said and done, I chose the HP C6380. Late last fall, I posted the majority of my feedback via vlogs, tweets, and blog posts. However, I just wanted to officially wrap things up a bit and share a few key points from my experience.

There are three aspects that were of utmost importance during my side-by-side comparison and determined my eventual choice. 1) Photo Quality 2)Reliability 3) Affordability.

Photo Quality

I was consistently impressed with the HP's photo quality. If I only had seen the Kodak photos, I would say they were decent photos, printed on a decent printer. However, seeing the photos side by side, it is apparent that the HP's quality is more authentic and "truer" to the original image.

I also did a little research through the Kodak manual/website and learned that Kodak programs their printer to "enhance" and "brighten" photos using their technology. Okay, fine. If that's what you want out of your photos, then great. For me, the color was off and they were unnaturally sharp.

The ink and paper test I did, as part of my comparison pretty much sealed the deal for me and I was blown away by the results. The HP, after having been submerged in water for 1 minute, came out looking as if it had just been printed. The Kodak, not so much.

Reliability

When I print photos from home, it is going to cost me more money than if I were to have them printed off at say, Costco. So, when I print from home, I want to make sure there are as few problems as possible. When the Kodak printed sub-par photos that I didn't want to give away or frame, that was money down the drain. When the Kodak printed out blank paper or half of the photo, that was money down the drain. That never happened with the HP. I could always count on the HP to print quality photos and documents every time.

Affordability

Kodak's claims of $110 of savings per year on ink doesn't hold up, in my opinion. I've seen the infomercial. Cheap ink begot lesser quality photos in my experience that did not hold up under rigorous testing. I also was able to find the HP C6380 on sale for a considerable cost savings up front, as well as saving through Staples Rewards program which gives a $3 staples credit for each ink cartridge no matter the size. Why would I pay the same the amount for a lesser printer and lesser quality ink?

**Please check out my other posts and vlogs on the VP Virtual Focus Group. They give a more in depth look at my experience.

HP C6380 vs. Kodak ESP 7 Ink and Paper Test (Part 5)

Results from my water test are included in the video. I submerged 4x6 photos in water for 1 minute. It's quite incredible.

A few important things to note:

I used comparable photo papers The HP Advanced 4x6 Photo Paper and the Kodak Premium 4x6 Photo Paper - both glossy
Kodak has contacted me personally (via twitter) about this, mentioning that their Ultra Premium Paper does not produce these results. That might be true, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of their low ink costs?
The HP paper I used isn't even their best paper, which says something about the quality of it's paper.
The results from this video are kind of hard to see because the youtube download is kind of grainy.
The reliability of HP's products really make a difference here, in my opinion.
I will ALWAYS be buying Advanced/Premium Photo Paper from now on.
The right printer + the right ink + the photo paper makes all the difference.

HP C6380 vs. Kodak ESP 7 (Part 4)

I missed posting last week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, so this week, I will present two posts on the HP Virtual Focus Group.

This week I want to showcase the scanning and copying features of the HP C6380 and the Kodak ESP7. I have had the opportunity to use the scanner several times over the last 5 weeks. Our family mostly scans signed documents, old family photos and children's artwork.

Below is an adorable photo of my late mother when she was 2 years old. The first one is scanned using the HP c6380

The second photo was scanned using the Kodak ESP7

Clearly, there is a difference here folks. In the first photo, you can even see the tear marks as if it were the original. I chose this photo so you could see the clarity and detail each scanner does or does not pick up.

Later, when I copied my daughter's artwork, it was the Kodak that won out on clarity. The top right is the original. Below it, the HP copy and left of the original is the Kodak. The coloring is slightly off on the kodak, but the photo makes it difficult to see.

Also of note is the user interface for the scanning process....the Kodak does not allow for direct scanning to your computer. You must first scan it to a memory card and then download that to the computer. The HP scans directly to the computer. I found that to be a tedious step and if I had the choice, I would choose to scan via the HP.

**UPDATE** - I was contacted by Susan of Kodak (@KodakPrinters on Twitter) and she kindly talked to me about the Kodak, and I realized that the printer was offline when I tried to scan to the computer. Silly me, it was my fault. I should have investigated a little further.

I was able to later scan another photo directly to the computer and it was a very easy process....Thanks to Susan and Kodak for making the effort to reach out a fix this.

Say Thank You With Photos

Show your gratitude this holiday season with photos! Photo Thank You Cards are fun and easy to make. Before you know it, you will have a personal and creative thank you card ready for that special occasion. You’ll need a few things to get this simple project completed.

Magnetic Alphabet Letters
Digital Camera
Photo Printer
Cardstock in color of your choice
Glue stick (acid free) or photo corners

I happen to have been blessed with a photo printer thanks to the fine folks at HP. So this project was that much easier because I was able to print the photos at home. (If you don’t have a photo printer at home, then have them printed via your local 1 hour print shop. Many grocery stores have photo printing services available, so you can pick up your print when you are shopping.)

Arrange the magnetic letters to spell the words “Thank You”.
Photograph the words in good light near a window. Try not to use your flash
Print out the image on 4x6 photo paper, set aside
Cut cardstock to 6 1/2 by 9
Fold cardstock in half to make a 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 folded card.
Adhere “Thank You” photo to front of card using photo corners or adhesive.
If cardstock is dark in color, think about lining the inside with a piece of white cardstock sized 4 x 6.

***I am including the “thank you” images in this post, so that you may use them if you wish. I put a creative commons liscense on them, so if you use them in a blog post, just attribute back to me. So, if you don’t have alphabet letters, you can just use mine!

***Click on the photos to be taken to the image in my flickr photstream.

This idea would work great for other occasions like birthdays and get well cards.

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